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106-482: A number of Roman ports were known as portus magnus ("grand port") : Portus Magnus, Spain: modern Almería Portus Magnus, Algeria : modern Bethioua Portus Magnus, Egypt: modern Alexandria Portus Magnus (Mauretania), in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis Magnus Portus: modern Bosham , near Chichester, England [REDACTED] Topics referred to by

212-425: A Hellenistic city. The theatre and a new stoa were built in the 2nd century BC. The great statue of Zeus/Baal was dedicated in a local temple at around the same time. In the 1st century BC, baths were constructed. High-quality wall paintings from this century survive in one of the private houses. The location of the city atop Monte Catalfano made it easy to defend, but difficult to supply with goods and food. In

318-426: A vestibule and then into a peristyle court supported by four Doric columns on the lower floor and four more on a second (reconstructed) floor. The peristyle measures 7.3 × 10.1 metres – small by comparison with the peristyles of other houses in the city. The courtyard was originally two stories tall. opposite the entrance was the exedra, the main room of the house, which was decorated with a geometric mosaic, that shows

424-530: A bronze statue of the Egyptian god Harpocrates which was found there. The building measures 20.3–20.6 × 17.5–21.8 metres and has a floorspace of 404 m . It was excavated by Vincenzo Tusa in 1970. This house two has multiple stories as a result of the slope of the hill. The main entrance was in the north and could be accessed from the side street known as the Via Hppodamo da Mileto. From the entrance, one proceeded to

530-531: A container port to take large-scale international shipping and thereby increase its freight traffic. It normally connects with the following destinations: By air, Almería is served by Almería Airport , the fourth largest in Andalusia. The winter timetable includes flights to Madrid , Barcelona , Melilla , London , and Seville, with international connections to Manchester , Birmingham , Brussels , Dublin and Swiss, German and other EU airports being added during

636-405: A few rooms inside the city. Vincenzo Tusa began excavations in 1951. He found the "House of Leda" in 1953, the theatre in 1963, and the "House of Harpocrates" around 1970. One reason for the intensification of excavations was the potential seen for the ruins to become a tourist attraction. No final publication of Tusa's excavations has ever been published. Some of the artefacts recovered (especially

742-427: A fort. Next to it is an old road, leading up to the very top of the mountain. Excavations in 1875 in the easternmost part of the city, where there is a good view out of the sea, revealed an altar and other structures. Perhaps the city's harbours were watched from here. The remains of the bathhouse are located at the south end of the city. The small building consisted of four large rooms and some smaller side rooms. At

848-522: A ground area of 10.4 × 8.6 metres. The structure consisted of two cellae with benches on three sides and a courtyard in front. The statue of the goddess is also now kept in the Archaeological Museum in Palermo. The figure is mode of local limestone and is heavily damaged. It depicts a goddess, sitting on a throne, flanked by two sphinxes . Originally, it was thought that the statue had belonged to

954-449: A least a small courtyard. Due to the steep gradient of the cityscape, many houses had two or three stories. The peristyle-type is typical of the houses of Soluntum, and similar houses are also known from other parts of northern Sicily. They developed in the years shortly after 300 BC. In other parts of the Greek world, they first appeared at later dates, so it appears that northern Sicily played

1060-595: A new taifa, ruled by the Arab Banu Sumadih until 1091, when it fell to Almoravid control. This allowed the city's economy to insert itself into the trade networks of the Almoravid empire . Building upon the previous development during the caliphal period, Almería reached a degree of historical relevance unmatched in the rest of its history throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, becoming the third-largest city of Al-Andalus . Almería imported indigo dye and wool from

1166-582: A part of its territory in the Alboran Sea, Alboran Island . The island has a small cemetery, a harbor, and a lighthouse, built in the 19th century. According to the Köppen climate classification , Almería has a transitional climate between hot semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) and a hot desert climate ( Köppen BWh ). Almería is the driest city in Europe and it is the only one with a hot desert climate, starting in

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1272-671: A peristyle to the east. On the east side of the house was a kind of veranda with a view over the city to the sea. In one room of the house there are well-preserved wall paintings in the second style, dating to the first century BC. These paintings mimic the appearance of blocks of coloured marble, with garlands above and theatre masks hanging off them. These paintings are now kept in the Antonino Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo. The House of Harpocrates ( Italian : Casa di Arpocrate ) in Insula VI gets its name from

1378-478: A precipitation amount of 156 mm (6.1 in), and an annual temperature of 19.1 °C (66.4 °F), while mountainous areas (such as the Tabernas Desert ) receive a precipitation amount of 220 mm (8.7 in) per year, and an average temperature of 17.9 °C (64.2 °F), so it would be classified as a cold desert climate ( BWk ) bordering a cold semi-arid climate ( BSk ). Inland areas of

1484-507: A sanctuary and discovered several statues. Francesco Saverio Cavallari carried out systematic excavations from 1856, following his appointment as the first professor of archaeology at the University of Palermo . The first plan of the city was published in 1875. Cavalleri's excavations were continued by Antonino Salinas , who published the first detailed reports. Minor excavations by Ettore Gábrici  [ it ] in 1920 only revealed

1590-448: A set of stairs. The name is modern and inaccurate since the structure was never used as a gymnasium. It was given to the house because a Greek inscription was found there during excavations in 1865, with a dedication for a gymnasiarch , but this inscription did not originally stand in the house. The structure is a large house with a two-story peristyle. In the 19th century, six columns of this peristyle were re-erected and various parts of

1696-443: A special role in the development of the type. The different levels of the houses were often used for different purposes. The shops on the lower floor of the houses in the centre of the city are usually not linked to the rest of the house but were used to support the floor above. On the first floor, there is often a peristyle and further living rooms. On the second floor, there are practical rooms like stables and kitchens. The facades of

1802-401: A steep slope, the city did not need a full circuit wall. In the south and west, there are sheer cliffs. In the north, the slope has been worn away with the passage of time and part of the city has gone with it. It thus remains unclear, whether there was ever a wall along this side. A wall with towers is attested with certainty only in the east and northwest sides of the city. To the southeast of

1908-415: A team of geologists found a cave filled with giant gypsum crystals in an abandoned silver mine near Almería. The cavity, which measures 8 by 1.8 by 1.7 metres (26.2 ft × 5.9 ft × 5.6 ft), may be the largest geode ever found. The entrance of the cave was blocked by five tons of rocks, and was under police protection (to prevent looters from entering). According to geological models,

2014-450: A temple in the archaic city and was brought to Monte Catalfano after the destruction of the original city. Newer research has shown that the statue dates to ca. 350–250 BC and is based on Punic models. At the entrance to the agora, on the western side of the Via dell'Agora, is another sanctuary (Insula VIII). It consists of a large house with an inner courtyard and three rooms on the street front.

2120-434: Is a rectangular plaza, which was the central place for festivals, gatherings, and markets in the city. There appears to have been a doorway or gate at the southern entrance since remains of a stone threshold and a large six-pointed star made of plaster were found there. The west side was bordered by a stoa of the type with projecting wings. It is 68.7 metres long and 20.3 metres wide. There are two side wings. The whole front of

2226-471: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Almer%C3%ADa Almería ( UK : / ˌ æ l m ə ˈ r iː ə / , US also / ˌ ɑː l -/ , Spanish: [almeˈɾi.a] ) is a city and municipality of Spain , located in Andalusia . It is the capital of the province of the same name . It lies in southeastern Iberia on

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2332-404: Is immediately to the east of the bold promontory called Capo Zafferano. It was about 16 km (9.9 mi) east of ancient Panormus (modern Palermo ). The city covers an area of about 10 ha (25 acres), around half of which has been excavated. The Phoenicians founded the city in the 8th or 7th century BC, according to Thucydides . They had established several other trading emporia in

2438-466: Is not known exactly when it will re-open. Passengers currently start their journey by being bussed a few kilometres to Huercal de Almería station. By sea, the port of Almería has connections to Melilla , Algeria , Morocco , and tourist cruises in the Mediterranean. It also has a marina with moorings for pleasure boats. Currently the port of Almería is being expanded with new docks and transformed into

2544-488: Is now believed to have been the location of the archaic city. In 409 BC, the Carthaginians invaded Sicily and conquered many Greek cities, including Selinus , Agrigentum , and Gela . After a short piece, the Carthaginians besieged Syracuse in 398 BC, whose tyrant Dionysius I managed to fend them off, recapture most of the lost territory. Soluntum remained loyal to Carthage even in 397 BC, when Dionysius invaded

2650-547: Is now in the Archaeological Museum in Palermo. It is 1.65 metres high and made from local tufa. Most scholars date it to the second half of the second century BC. It shows that the city still contained wealthy citizens able to finance such works at that date. The northern pair of shrines may be the source of a statue of Hermes (now lost) and an archaic-looking seated statue which might depict Astarte , Tanit , or Artemis . These shrines, now very poorly preserved, were also discovered by Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta in 1826 and have

2756-527: Is one of the sunniest cities in Europe. Almería is the only city in Continental Europe that has never registered any temperature below freezing in its recorded weather history. The coldest temperature recorded was 0.1 °C (32.2 °F) at the airport in January 2005. Before that, the previous record was 0.2 °C (32.4 °F) on 9 February 1935. Settled snow is unknown since 1935, although during

2862-407: Is only partially preserved. The floor of the peristyle is 5.65 metres above the floor level of the shops. On the east side of the peristyle is a cistern that stretches the entire length of the courtyard. In the middle is a pool decorated with a geometric mosaic, which collected rainwater and fed into the cistern. The whole peristyle is decorated with a simple mosaic. In the centre of the west side of

2968-519: Is only recognisable from the foundations since nothing of the superstructure survives. A theatre abutted the Agora, which was excavated in 1953 and 1958. It was probably built in the second century BC, during the period of Sicilian prosperity under the Roman Republic. The northern parts were built over the top of an older house. It appears that there was no theatre on the site before this date. The seating

3074-506: Is produced, and inequality is reduced. Concretely, Almería is made up of 12,500 farms with an extension of 2,5 hectares and a 30% of familiar labour. It is also important the high education levels of the farmers, who shows an innovative and receptive character when it comes to continuing learning: 81,2% have some type of official academic training. At the same time, a commercial system based on social economy enterprises has been developed, e.g. as cooperative societies. These companies represent

3180-511: Is the case for most of coastal Iberia, heatwaves in Almería are much less common than in the interior because of its coastal location; The hottest temperature recorded was 42.0 °C (107.6 °F) in August 2022. The highest minimum temperature ever recorded was 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) on 31 July 2001, which is also the highest ever recorded in peninsular Spain and Iberian Peninsula . In 2000,

3286-421: Is well-documented widespread exploitation of workers from North Africa who work and live in terrible conditions, earning much lower than the minimum wage. From a social point of view, Almería and Granada are an example of family-owned and smallholder agriculture, with small farms and little concentration of land. This social nature generates high equity in the level of income and welfare, that is, social cohesion

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3392-527: The Itinerarium Antonini , which place it 12 miles from Panormus and 12 from Thermae (modern Termini Imerese ). A Latin dedicatory inscription survives from the city, erected by the citizens in honour of Fulvia Plautilla , the wife of emperor Caracalla . The city was subsequently abandoned. Armin Wiegand suggests that this was due to an earthquake or landslide. There are some Greek inscriptions from

3498-479: The opus africanum technique, in which the stones were placed between individual pillars. The roofs of the houses used terracotta tiles. The so-called "Gymnasium" ( Italian : Ginnasio ) in Insula V on the Via dell'Agora (the main street) was a private house, which was probably built in the third century BC and was inhabited until the third century AD. Several phases of construction and renovation are detectable. On

3604-627: The Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park . This park is of volcanic origin, and is the largest and most ecologically significant marine-terrestrial space in the European Western Mediterranean Sea . The Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park runs through the municipal areas of Níjar , Almerimar and Carboneras . Its villages, previously dedicated to fishing , have become tourism spots. The beaches of Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park are also an attraction. Almería has one islet that it administers as

3710-603: The Emirate of Granada , to which Almería belonged from then on. While relatively languishing throughout the Nasrid period, Almería still remained a key strategic port of the emirate together with Málaga , as well as a haven for pirates and political dissidents. It sustained intense trading relations with Aragon and the African port of Honaine . Almería endured a brutal siege by Aragonese forces in 1309 that, while eventually unsuccessful, left

3816-563: The Mediterranean Sea . Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city grew wealthy during the Islamic era, becoming a world city throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. It enjoyed an active port that traded silk , oil, and raisins. Being adjacent to a small desert, Almería has an exceptionally dry climate by European standards. The name "Almería" comes from the city's former Arabic name, Madīnat al-Mariyya , meaning "city of

3922-603: The Spanish A-92 that unites it with the rest of Andalusia. Almería railway station is served by Renfe Operadora with direct rail services to Granada , and Madrid Atocha using a branch off the Alcázar de San Juan–Cádiz railway ; the Linares Baeza–Almería railway . In the future, high-speed rail AVE services will link Almería to Madrid via Murcia . The central railway station has been closed for several months and it

4028-749: The Spanish Civil War the city was shelled by the German Navy , with news reaching the London and Parisian press about the "criminal bombardment of Almería by German planes". Almería surrendered in 1939, being the last Andalusian main city to fall to Francoist forces. In the second half of the 20th century, Almería witnessed spectacular economic growth due to tourism and intensive agriculture, with crops grown year-round in massive invernaderos – plastic-covered "greenhouses" – for intensive vegetable production. After Franco's death and popular approval of

4134-564: The War of Las Alpujarras in 1568 and scattered across the Crown of Castile. Landings and attacks by Barbary pirates were also frequent in the 16th century, and continued until the early 18th century. At that time, huge iron mines were discovered and French and British companies set up business in the area, bringing renewed prosperity and returning Almería to a position of relative importance within Spain. During

4240-474: The amphipolus for Zeus Olympius and all the gods." The original stoa on the site was probably built in the fourth or third century BC at the same time as the city was refounded, but the surviving remains derive from the second century BC. Behind the stoa was the bouleuterion , where the Council of the city met. The room has five rows of seating and space for around a hundred people. Older literature referred to

4346-545: The mulberry trees planted in the region, fostered Almería's economy. Almería also became an important slave trade hub during the caliphal period. In the wake of the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, Almería detached from Cordobese authority towards 1014 and became ruled as an independent taifa under Slavic kinglets . It submitted to the Taifa of Valencia in 1038, yet it soon became independent as

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4452-401: The times of peace after the Roman conquest, it was much more convenient to live down on the coast. Many Sicilian settlements, which had been founded on mountains, were thus abandoned in the Roman period. In the first century BC, Soluntum was one of the main exceptions to this pattern, inhabited by rich citizens, as the sumptuous decoration of the various houses shows. Cicero says that the city

4558-478: The 10th century, where members of the community mostly engaged in maritime trade. When the Jews were expelled in 1492, many living in Almería fled to North Africa. The 16th century was for Almería a century of natural and human catastrophes; for there were at least four earthquakes , of which the one in 1522 was especially violent, devastating the city. The people who had remained Muslim were expelled from Almería after

4664-454: The 20th century, light flurries (without settling) occurred on few occasions. The most important settled snowfall event occurred in 1926 and the snow arrived even at the coastline of the city. The last event with settled snowfall happened on 9 February 1935. During the winter, daily maximum temperatures tend to stay around 17–18 °C (63–64 °F). At night, the minimum temperature is usually around 8–10 °C (46–50 °F). This makes

4770-482: The 62% of production and sales.  They assure the access to the market in optimal conditions, because they increase its position inside the agri-food supply chain, facilitate financing, technical advice, and incorporation of technology. Moreover, local ties increase environmental sustainability. By land, Almería can be reached by the A-7 Mediterranean Highway , which connects the Mediterranean area with

4876-410: The Agora"), the main street of the city, which runs through the middle of town to the agora in the north. It is roughly level with the natural ground level, while the east-west side streets that cross it are essentially staircases running up and down the slope. Two more level streets run in parallel with the Via dell'Agora, one above it to the west and the other below it to the east, which are now known as

4982-449: The Almería province are believed to have reached temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F) in summer. Though temperatures above 40 °C (104 °F) are very rare in the city of Almería. During the summer, the skies are usually sunny and almost no rainfall occurs. The typical daily temperatures are around 30 °C (86 °F) during the day while the minimum temperatures stay around 22 °C (72 °F) during July and August. As

5088-612: The Banu Mardanis, Almería submitted to the authority of Ibn Hud , who had raised the black banner and pledged nominal allegiance to Abbasid authorities by 1228. After Ibn Hud's assassination in Almería in 1238, the bulk of the remaining Muslim-controlled territories in the Iberian Peninsula passed to the control of rival ruler Ibn al-Aḥmar (sultan since 1232), who had set the capital of his emirate in Granada by 1238, constituting

5194-575: The Carthaginians after their leader abandoned them in Africa. For the first half of the First Punic War (264–241 BC) it was still subject to Carthage, but it surrendered to the Romans after the conquest of Panormus in 250 BC. Archaeology shows that the city flourished under Roman rule, especially in the second and first centuries BC, when extensive construction provided it with all the typical buildings of

5300-642: The Common Agricultural Policy: 1.9% of total income. This figure is much lower than that received by other sectors such as olive groves (33%) or cereals (53%). The production of this area is based on a fair competition with officially a just remuneration of employees, with similar salaries than the ones in the same sector in Europe: 8% higher than Italy and 11% than Belgium. This avoids the social dumping exerted by non-EU countries, like Morocco, with salaries up to 90% lower than those of Almería. However, there

5406-501: The Hellenistic period. Another sanctuary contained a statue dating to around 300 BC, which belongs stylistically to the Punic artistic tradition. The preference for inhumation burials also accords with Punic tradition. Some of the houses have little chapels, containing typical Punic stelae. Another Punic element is the construction of walls using the opus africanum technique. In this system,

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5512-608: The Maghreb and linen from Egypt, while it exported copper to Fez and Tlemcen as well as its highly sought textiles. Contested by the emirs of Granada and Valencia, Almería experienced many sieges, including one especially fierce siege when Christians, called to the Second Crusade by Pope Eugene III , were also encouraged to counter the Muslim forces on a more familiar coast. On that occasion Alfonso VII , starting on 11 July 1147, at

5618-529: The Phoenicians and Greeks in Sicily came into conflict with one another. The location of the archaic city has long been uncertain. No archaic remains have been found in the excavations at Soluntum, so it is clear that it was not located on the same site as the later city. Recent excavations revealed a Punic necropolis at Capo Solanto to the south of the city, with remains from the sixth and fifth centuries BC, and this

5724-439: The Punic part of the island and destroyed Motya , causing most of Carthage's allies to defect. Dionysius ravaged its territory without success, but in 396 BC it was betrayed to Dionysius and destroyed. The city was rebuilt in the middle of the fourth century, in its present location, atop Monte Catalfano. In 307 BC the Carthaginians gave the city to the soldiers and mercenaries of Agathocles , who had made peace with

5830-524: The Via degli Artigiani (Street of the Artisans) and the Via degli Ulivi (Street of the Olives) respectively. These three main streets are about 6 metres wide, while the side streets are only 3 metres across. The blocks of houses formed by the grid measure about 40 × 80 metres. Each block is split in half by an east-west alleyway, which is about a metre wide. Most of the streets are paved with stone slabs. Especially, on

5936-460: The Via dell'Agora, the street frontage of most houses was occupied by workshops and shops. It is uncertain when this Hippodamian grid pattern was imposed upon the city. Below the theatre are remains of an earlier house which is not aligned with this grid. This seems to indicate that it belongs to an earlier stage in the city's history before the grid pattern. Armin Wiegend suggested that the grid pattern

6042-541: The band's third album, If I Should Fall from Grace with God . In 1989, English electronic band Depeche Mode filmed the video for their song " Personal Jesus " in Almería. Tourism increased and hotels were all occupied from January to February during the filming of the sixth season of the TV series Game of Thrones . Almería hosted the Mediterranean Games in 2005. The city has two football teams: UD Almería , which

6148-498: The building were reconstructed. The house is the main focus of Markus Wolf's 2003 monograph on the houses of Soluntum. The House of Leda ( Italian : Casa di Leda ) in Insula VII, is derived from its wall paintings, which included a depiction of Leda . The house is located on the Via dell'Agora and was excavated in 1963 by Vincenzo Tusa. It measures 26.7 × 19.5 metres, giving a floorspace of about 520  m . There are four shops on

6254-417: The caldarium contains a colourful mosaic depicting a vase. Remains of doric columns attest to the elaborate architectural ornamentation of the building. Parts of the eastern side of the bathhouse are lost, due to parts of the steep cliff face slipping away. The bathhouse was probably built in the first century BC. The geometric mosaic dates to the first century AD, when the building was renovated. The agora

6360-774: The cave was formed during the Messinian salinity crisis 6 million years ago, when the Mediterranean sea evaporated and left thick layers of salt sediments ( evaporites ). The site is currently open for tourists under guided tours. The festive events that occur in the municipality are listed below: Soluntum The Punic name of the town was simply Kapara ( 𐤊𐤐𐤓𐤀 , KPRʾ ), meaning "Village". The Greek name appears in surviving coins as Solontînos ( Σολοντῖνος ) but appears variously in other sources as Solóeis ( Σολόεις ), Soloûs ( Σολοῦς ), and Solountînos . Some scholars contend that Soluntum and Solus were two different cities at close quarters, Soluntum, higher upon

6466-461: The centre, one of which is Leda with the swan. The wall paintings replaced an original set of paintings in the first style . Other rooms of the house also have wall paintings. The floors were partially decorated with geometric mosaics. In one room south of the peristyle, there is a mosaic depicting an armillary sphere , a type of astronomical instrument. The individual lines of the image are marked out using lead strips. The excavator suggested that it

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6572-465: The city battered. The city submitted to the sovereignty of the Catholic Monarchs on 22 December 1489. Relatively isolated and within the range of attacks from Barbary pirates , the hitherto mercantile city entered modernity by undergoing a process of heavy ruralization that imperiled its very same continued existence as a city. Historically, there was a Jewish community in Almería dating to

6678-464: The city naming prominent citizens. One of them records that Antallus son of Asclapus from the family of the Ornichi paid for the main street to be paved from his own funds. Another one names Sextus Peduceus , who was governor of Sicily from 76 to 75 BC: Τὸ κοιν[ὸν- - ? - -] Σέξστον Πεδο̣[υκαῖον] ἀντιστρά̣[τηγον] τὸν αὐτῶν [πάτρωνα] εὐνοίας ἕ[νεκα] The League ... (honours) Sextus Peduceus

6784-446: The city of Almería one of the warmest in winter in Spain . The city only receives yearly precipitation of just 200 mm (7.9 in) and 26 days of precipitation annually; so while no month could be described as truly wet, there are strong seasonal differences in terms of precipitation and temperature, with coastal parts of the city (such as the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park ) receiving

6890-444: The city, where the road winds up the slope from the shore, there are remains of fortifications along the road. It could be that these are the remains of a tower, but the area has never been excavated. Further remains are found to the northwest of the city, on the edge of the cliff, where part of the city has eroded away. There are remains of a wall and a rectangular tower there, as well as a large cistern which might also have been part of

6996-547: The coastline around Almería to Torrevieja , in the northeast. The nearby Faro del Cabo in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park , has the lowest annual precipitation on the European continent (156 millimetres (6.1 in)) in the period 1961-1990 and around 140 millimetres (5.5 in) since 2010. Almería enjoys about 3,000 hours of sunshine with over 320 sunny days per year on average (6 hours of sunshine in January and 12 in July) so it

7102-577: The coins) are now kept in the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo; the rest is on display in the museum at the site. Starting in 1964, the city was excavated by the German Archaeological Institute of Rome. Under Helmut Schläger , the architecture of the agora was investigated, but Schlager's early death prevented publication of the results. From 1988, Armin Wiegand investigated

7208-399: The composer José Padilla Sánchez, whose music was declared of "universal interest" by Unesco in 1989, the popular folk singer Manolo Escobar , renowned Flamenco guitar player José Tomás "Tomatito" and Grammy Award winner David Bisbal ; the champion motorcyclist Antonio Maeso moved to Almería as a child. The Irish folk-rock group The Pogues paid tribute to Almería in "Fiesta", a song on

7314-406: The courtyard was the triclinium (dining room), with wall paintings which are relatively well preserved. Their date is disputed. Initially, they were dated to the end of the first century AD, and assigned to the Roman fourth style . More recent research prefers to place them in the first century BC and assign them to the second style . The paintings consist of plain fields with individual figures in

7420-561: The early efforts of recovery in the city, that under the decade of Christian occupation reportedly had been left depopulated and, by and large, quite destroyed. During Almohad rule, the city did not return to its previous splendor, although the port remained trading with the Crown of Aragon and the Italian republics. Following the rebellion against Almohad rule heralded by the likes of the Banu Hud and

7526-481: The economic power of the community. Excavations have brought to light considerable remains of the ancient Roman town, and a good deal still remains unexplored. The site was identified using ancient literary sources by Tommaso Fazello in his 1558 history of Sicily. The first excavations were carried out in 1825 by Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta and published in his Le antichità della Sicilia. Vol 5: Antichità di Catana — Palermo . 1842, pp. 57–67. He unearthed

7632-485: The head of mixed armies of Catalans, Genoese, Pisans and Franks, led a crusade against the rich city, and Almería was captured on 17 October 1147, marking the breakup of the city's period of splendor in the Middle Ages. Within a decade, in 1157, Almería had passed to the control of Muslim Almohad rulers. Almería soon passed by the temporary overarching control of rebel Murcian emir Ibn Mardanish (1165–1169), hindering

7738-498: The hemi litra (a Sicilian unit of coinage and weight) and the tetrras (quarter). A second phase of minting dates between the fourth and the mid-third centuries BC. It again consisted of silver coinage. The main motifs were Heracles and maritime symbols like the hippocamp . The final phase of coin production runs into the Roman period. The main motifs at this point were Poseidon , Athena , and perhaps Ares . Coins from Soluntum are found in many settlements throughout Sicily, indicating

7844-403: The hillside, being a later habitation displacing the earlier settlement of Solus, at a lower elevation. These were Latinized as Soluntum and Solus , which became the modern Italian name Solunto . Soluntum lay 183 m (600 ft) above sea level on the southeast side of Monte Catalfano (373 m or 1,225 ft), commanding a fine view from a naturally-strong situation. It

7950-473: The lowest point. Despite the uneven terrain, the city's streets were laid out in a regular grid pattern, in accordance with the Hippodamian system . The individual insulae (blocks of housing) are now identified using Roman numerals. Only the entrance to the city in the southeast is adjusted to the steeply sloping terrain. The road winds its way up the mountainside until it becomes the "Via dell’Agora" ("Street of

8056-529: The new Spanish Constitution, the people of southern Spain were called on to approve an autonomous status for Andalusia region in a referendum. The referendum were approved with 118,186 votes for and 11,092 votes against in Almería province, which represented 42% of all registered voters. Famous natives of Almería include Nicolás Salmerón y Alonso , who in 1873 was the third president of the First Spanish Republic , as well as several musicians, including

8162-406: The priesthood of Philon son of Apollonius, Ariston son of Apollonius (set up this statue of) his father Apollonius son of Ariston, who had been amphipolus for Zeus Olympius and all the gods." Right side: "In the priesthood of Philon son of Apollonius, Apollonius, Philon, and Ariston sons of Ariston (set up this statue of) their father Ariston son of Apollonius, who had been

8268-412: The profitability and quality of the crops and the competitiveness of the markets. Moreover, Almería's economy has an important exporting function: 75% of production was sold abroad in 2018, with a value of 2.400 million euros. This development is explained by familiar investment, as subsidies have been limited or non-existent. In this sense, the horticultural sector receives the least European aids from

8374-424: The propraetor, their patron, for his good will. A Latin inscription , erected by the citizens in honour of Fulvia Plautilla , the wife of Caracalla , was found in 1857. The city minted its own coinage, including numerous silver coins. The coins of the fifth century BC bear the Punic legend kpr or the Greek name ΣΟΛΟΝΤΙΝΟΝ. The silver coins were mostly didrachms and obols . The bronze coins consisted of

8480-3796: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. v t e [REDACTED] Phoenician cities and colonies Algeria Camarata Cartennae ( Tenes ) Hippo Regius Icosium ( Algiers ) Igilgili ( Jijel ) Iol (Cherchell) Iomnium ( Tigzirt ) Cirta ( Constantine ) Kissi (Djinet) Macomades Malaca Rachgoun Rusazus ( Azeffoun ) Rusguniae ( Tamentfoust ) Rusicade (Skikda) Rusippisir (Taksebt) Rusubbicari ( Zemmouri El Bahri) Rusuccuru (Dellys) Sarai ( Aïn Oulmene ) Thagora ( Taoura ) Tipasa in Mauretania Tipasa in Numidia Timici Cyprus Dhali Kition ( Larnaca ) Lapathus Marion Greece Callista (Santorini) Paxi Rhodes Delos Israel Achzib Akka (Acre) Dora Michal Jaffa Reshef Shikmona ( Haifa ) Strato's Tower (Caesarea) Italy Bitan ( Chia ) Cape Melqart (Cefalù) Drepanum ( Trapani ) Eryx ( Erice ) Heraclea Minoa Kapara (Soluntum) Karaly ( Cagliari ) Lilybaeum Motya Neapolis Nora Olbia Pantelleria Selinunte Sulci ( Sant'Antioco ) Tharros Ṣiṣ (Palermo) Lebanon Amia Ampi Arqa Athar (Tripoli) Baalbek Birut ( Beirut ) Botrys (Teros) Gebal (Byblos) Ornithon (Tell el-Burak) Porphyreon (Jieh) Sarepta Sidon Sur (Tyre) , Ushu (Palaetyrus) Umm al-Amad Libya Lepcis ( Khoms ) Oyat ( Tripoli ) Tsabratan Malta Maleth ( Cospicua ) Ann ( Mdina ) Gaulos (Gozo) Għajn Qajjet Mtarfa Ras il-Wardija Tas-Silġ Morocco Azama (Azemmour) Arambys (Mogador) Caricus Murus Heq she Elisha (Ksar es-Seghir) Likush ( Larache ) Shalat (Chellah) Tamusida Tinga ( Tangier ) Anfa ( Casablanca ) Volubilis Mogador Rusadir Oualidia Zilil Gadir Sala Thymiaterium Rusibis Portugal Portus Hannibalis Portus Magonis (Portimão) Olissipona (Lisbon) Ossonoba (Faro) Balsa ( Tavira ) Spain Abdera ( Adra ) Abyla ( Ceuta ) Akra Leuka ( Alicante ) Gadir (Cadiz) Herna Iboshim ( Ibiza ) Mahón Malake ( Málaga ) Onoba Carthage (Cartagena) Rushadir ( Melilla ) Saguntum Sexi ( Almunecar ) Tagilit (Tíjola) Toscanos ( Velez ) Tyreche Syria Arwad Marat (Amrit) Balanaea (Baniyas) Carne Paltus Safita Shuksi Sumur Ugarit Tunisia Aspis (Kelibia) Bulla Regia Carthage Hadrumetum ( Sousse ) Hippo Diarrhytus (Bizerte) Kerkouane Lepcis ( Monastir ) Maqom Hadesh (Ounga) Meninx ( Djerba ) Ruspe Ruspina Sicca (El Kef) Tabarka Tayinat ( Thyna ) Thapsus Thysdrus ( El Djem ) Utica Other Myriandus Phoenicus Gibraltar Tahpanhes Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portus_Magnus&oldid=909892386 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

8586-738: The second floor of the stage building in the theatre and the second floor of the peristyles of several of the private houses. It is a decorative element that was particularly popular in the western Mediterranean. In the northernmost exedra there are two spaces for statues with Greek inscriptions identifying them as statues of Apollonius and Ariston (a father-son pair). Left side: ἐπὶ ἱεροθύτα Φίλωνος Ἀπ[ολλωνίου] Ἀρίστω[ν] Ἀ[πολλωνίο]υ τὸν π[ατέρα] Ἀπολλώνιον Ἀ[ρίστωνος ἀμ]φιπ[ολή]σα[ντα] Διὶ Ὀλυμπίωι καὶ θεοῖς πᾶσι Right side: ἐπὶ ὶεροθύτα Φίλω[νος] Ἀρίστωνος Ἀπολλώνιος καὶ Φ[ίλων] καὶ Ἀρίστων Ἀρίστωνος τὸν πατέρα Ἀρίστ[ωνα Ἀ]πολλωνίου ἀμφιπολήσαντα Διὶ Ὀλυμπίωι καὶ θεοῖς πᾶσι Left side: In

8692-529: The settlement of current-day Almería initially developed as a humble trading port of Pechina known as Al-Mariyya Bajjana. Pechina and its maritime port experienced divergent fortunes, and while the former progressively depopulated, the latter became the base of the Caliphal navy after 933, during the rule of Abd-ar-Rahman III . Furthermore, in 955, Abd-ar-Rahman III decided to erect the walls . A silk industry consisting of hundreds of looms and feeding itself from

8798-415: The side of the house facing the street, there are four stores, each with two rooms, which were probably rented out. The house stands on a steep slope, so the main floor, with the peristyle and various small rooms, is the first floor. The entrance was on a side street. Parts of the second story are also preserved. It is located on the upper part of the slope and was previously accessed from the peristyle using

8904-405: The south end, there was an open courtyard, next to the frigidarium which was originally decorated with a geometric mosaic – now completely destroyed. North of this was the tepidarium , with an apse on the western side, then the caldarium and the laconicum . The tepidarium and caldarium sat on top of a hypocaust system. One of the side rooms contains a set of stairs and a small hallway behind

9010-471: The south-eastern outskirts of the city (still inside the municipality of Almería) until the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park located east of the city. The BWh climate is present in the city of Almería, in nearby areas of Almería province (such as the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park , the Andarax / Almanzora river valleys), the only region in Europe to have this climate. This arid climatic region spreads along

9116-440: The southernmost of these rooms contains three high, pillar-shaped altars. The central room has a large entrance from the street and stone benches on all sides. It has been interpreted as a waiting room. The function of the third, northern room is unclear. Two house types are identifiable. Large houses, mostly in the city centre, had two-story peristyles . At the edges of the city, there are smaller houses that had no peristyle, but

9222-449: The stoa is lined with columns. Behind this are nine exedrae . The Doric columns of the portico are mostly lost, but much of the structure remains, including parts of the tufa sima , which are decorated with lion's head waterspouts and can be dated stylistically to the second century BC. The second story of the stoa was made up of half-columns, with decorative blocks bearing a diamond pattern in between them. These blocks were also used for

9328-403: The stoa of the Agora. Two construction phases are detectable in the orchestra . The theatre probably remained in use until the city was abandoned. There are remains of several temples in the city. None of them follow Classical Greek or Roman models . They seem to belong to the Punic tradition, although it is often difficult to find parallels for specific details. Behind the bouleuterion and

9434-449: The street front, but their facade is completely lost. The central two shops were narrower than the outer two. All of them probably also had an upper floor, since remains of staircases are preserved, as are benches and various other furnishings. The main house was entered from a side street to the south, now known as Via Ippodamo da Mileto. The centre of the house was originally a two-story peristyle with four Ionic columns on each side; this

9540-422: The structure as an odeion (i.e., a music hall), while newer literature calls it a bouleuterion. Markus Wolf suggested that it served both functions. South of the bouleuterion is a large walled area, measuring 31.4 × 12.3 metres. Its function is unclear, but it might have been a religious precinct. To the north of the agora is a gymnasium . The structure is not well preserved, but it had a large courtyard, which

9646-546: The summer. Due to its arid landscape, numerous Spaghetti Westerns were filmed in Almería and some of the sets still remain as a tourist attraction. These sets are located in the desert of Tabernas . The town and region were also used by David Lean in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), John Milius in The Wind and the Lion (1975) and others. One of Almería's most famous natural spots is

9752-583: The supply industry of the sector, represent almost 40% of Almería's GDP. Directly, agricultural production accounts for 18.2% of the provincial GDP. In Andalusia, the average contribution is 6.6% and in Spain it is only 2.9%. This situation is the result of a great dynamic model, which can continually incorporate new technologies: using soil sanding, plastic covers, drip irrigation systems, hybrid seeds, soil-less cultivation, irrigation programs, new greenhouse structures, and so on. They all allowed to improve production and increase commercialisation calendars, assuring

9858-428: The theatre was a temple complex containing five shrines, arranged into a northern and southern pair, with the fifth shrine located in between them. Some shrines have niches at the western end, where statues would have stood. Three of these statues have been recovered. The southernmost shrine contained an over life-sized statue, which depicted Zeus or Baal . It was discovered by Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta in 1826 and

9964-417: The theatre, eventually publishing a study of the building Markus Wolf has worked on the agora and the houses of the city, with a special focus on the gymnasium. In 2014, Alberto Sposito published an architectural study, presenting all excavated buildings and the current state oft heir remains. The city is located on the east slope of Monte Catalfano. The highest point of the city is some 60 metres above

10070-452: The walls consist of a series of pillars, acting as supports, with the area between them filled in with loose stones. The rounded ends of the cisterns are also typically Punic. The floors of many of the houses employ the opus signinum technique, which developed in Carthage in the third century BC and only spread through the Roman empire later. Thanks to the favourable location of the city atop

10176-440: The walls. The most common is "ladder masonry" in which small regular sandstone blocks and laid alongside large dolomite blocks and the space in between is filled with small rocks. The walls always had a double-shell design. "Block masonry" was often used, especially for the lower parts. In this technique, large dolomite blocks were laid one on top of the other. Regular sandstone blocks were mainly used in facades. Older structures used

10282-506: The watchtower". As the settlement was originally the port or coastal suburb of Pechina , it was initially known as Mariyyat al-Bajjāna ( Bajjāna being the Arabic name for Pechina). The origin of Almería is connected to the 9th-century establishment of the so-called Republic of Pechina (Bajjana) some kilometres to the north, which was for a time autonomous from the Cordobese central authority :

10388-408: The wealthier houses were decorated with pilasters and half-columns. Nearly all houses had a cistern, which collected rainwater for the water supply. The houses – like most buildings of the city – were built from two kinds of stone: hard grey dolomite from Monte Catalfano itself and a chalky sandstone from nearby quarries. The binding material was lime mortar. Several masonry techniques were used for

10494-586: The west of Sicily, including Motya and Panormus (modern Palermo). In 539 BC, the Phoenicians in the eastern Mediterranean were conquered by the Persian empire . The Phoenicians of the western Mediterranean (known to the Romans as Punics ) became independent and Carthage in particular developed into a major city, which brought the Phoenician settlements in Sicily under its control at an uncertain point in time. Increasingly

10600-402: Was a civitas , when Gaius Verres was governor of Sicily (73-71 BC). A decline is observed in the first century AD. There was no notable construction in this period, except that the baths were renovated and new ones may have been built by the Agora. It is mentioned in passing in the first century AD by Pliny , in the second century AD by Ptolemy , and at the beginning of the 3rd century in

10706-465: Was built into the slope of Monte Catalfano, but little of it now survives. Some stones from the mid-section have been placed back together in a modern reconstruction. In total, there were twenty rows of seating. From the skene (stage building), only parts of the foundation walls are still in situ, but along with scattered finds of architectural elements, it has been possible to reconstruct the building's appearance. It had an area of 21.6 × 6.6 metres and

10812-452: Was flanked on the west side by columns. Under the floor were two large cisterns. Another large cistern is located next to the agora. It measures 25 × 10 metres, with nine rows of pillars, which previously supported a roof. This roof was probably part of the plaza of the agora. In the northeast of the agora there are very poorly preserved remains of another bathhouse from the Imperial period. It

10918-616: Was imported from Alexandria in Egypt . Many statues have been found in the house. A large room accessed from the Via Ippodamo da Mileto contained stone troughs , which indicates that it was used as a stable. The House of the Masks ( Italian : Casa delle Maschere ) in Insula XI was partially excavated in 1868–1869. It is located at the high point of the whole city. A atrium stood at the centre, with

11024-477: Was imposed when the Greek soldiers of Agathocles settled there in 307 BCE. Although the overall character of the city is Greco-Roman, there are also elements that researchers have attributed to Punic cultural background, especially in the religious sphere. The city had no temple in the Greco-Roman style , but there are three Punic sanctuaries. One of them contained an over-life-size statue of Zeus , which dates to

11130-499: Was promoted to La Liga , the top tier of Spanish football, in 2022, and CP Almería , which plays in the División de Honor , the sixth tier. The Plaza de toros de Almería is the main bullring in Almería. It has a capacity of 10,000 and it opened in 1882. Intensive agriculture has been the most important economic sector of Almería for the last 50 years. Nowadays, greenhouse's production, handling and commercialisation of vegetables, and

11236-406: Was two stories tall. At each end, there was a projecting wing, known as a paraskenion . Surviving architectural elements show that the stage building featured a set of doors and Doric columns on the ground floor and a facade of Ionic columns on the upper story. Two caryatids may have decorated the podium. The upper floor probably had balustrades decorated with a diamond pattern like those found in

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